Sunday, January 31, 2010

Limoncello: Step One
























Put 11 "biological lemons" on Tom's list for the farmers' market.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Primal Source of Joy

kisses and hugs


Dee, thank you for this beautiful book! This is my favorite page.

My primal source of joy is drawing things. And eating and drinking.

And being with people I like for limited amounts of time. Then going home and thinking about them.

How about you?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Reading and Tweeting









History has never been my strong suit. And lately reading itself, for more than minutes at a stretch, is getting to be a rare occurrence. But today I read two whole pages uninterrupted of the new bio of Thelonious Monk by Robin Kelley and in the process I learned 3 things that my built-in forgetter had forgotten about:



1. When the Civil War ended slavery was supposed to end. But tens of thousands of slaves throughout the state of North Carolina (where Thelonious Monk's great grandparents and grandparents were from) were afraid to leave their plantations. Many were afraid of starvation and breaking "family ties." But many planters evicted their former slaves anyway–especially the ones who were old or too weak to work.

2. In 1866, white supremacists in government passed a series of laws known as the Black Codes. Some of the worst codes were the apprenticeship laws that allowed former masters to retain control of ex-slaves under the age of 21, under the pretext that they needed a guardian.

3. In North Carolina it was a crime to teach slaves to read and write.

And another thing (of course): Marriage between slaves was not legally recognized.

When I begged Peter to loan me this book about my favorite jazz pianist I had no idea what I would be getting into. I'm not sure we humans have come very far. But on the other hand, to think that we have the black President we do today: Hooray!
......................

My favorite tweet of the week:

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Sunday, January 24, 2010

More Jewelry



Mummer, you left a comment on my last post and asked to see some of my work. This is the first piece of jewelry I ever made. It's a bracelet I made in high school. Do you remember it?

So now let's see something you've made.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Another Break


It happened again yesterday! About 5:00 it stopped raining. So I sighed a big sigh and hit the beach. I took the car and put a big towel in the front seat in case the El Niño changed his mind and started dumping buckets again.

I jogged down to the end of the dunes. I ran into Peter and Anne and Carmen going the other way. It got dark. Debris covered the beach, so I jogged slowly and carefully back. It's a strange and beautiful feeling to be on the beach in the evening and not see anyone else (but to know that your good friends are up there somewhere near Seal Rock by now).

When I was just about back to Balboa Street where I park, it began to rain again. Perfect timing! I love it when this happens and I can trick El Niño and sneak a walk in between storms.

Today it's bright and sunny. I'm tired of exercising. I'm excited because I made some earrings this morning using an old necklace that I love but never wear. I'm holding the ravaged necklace and wearing the new earrings and snapping a picture using Photo Booth. If you have any necklaces you'd like me to make earrings out of–especially diamond necklaces–send them on.


Thursday, January 21, 2010

What's For Dinner?

Roll your mouse over your favorite picture to find out.

© Linda Davick

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Break



















A perfect evening is when it's been storming all day and then around 5:00 it clears up for an hour or two. It's freezing and the wind is blowing like crazy. Your gloves are in the car and the car isn't around, so you grab the pair of your mom's black Isotoners you saved in your drawer. You walk outside and Rosalie shouts: "You're brave! Don't walk under any trees!" You walk three blocks down to the beach. You jog down to the end of the dunes against the wind, and then you jog back with the wind pushing you. You arrive home with a slight headache. The fun part is then changing into dry clothes and having a bloody mary while looking at the photos you took. Then gorging on the soup Tom made along with the salmon that John brought over–both microwaved together to make one easy dish. Along with your dinner-in-a-bowl you have a saucer of Trader Joe's Oriental Rice Crackers mixed with salted peanuts and m&m's. You sit at the computer for a little while, then take a hot shower and go to bed under a down comforter, a wool blanket, and an old down sleeping bag. You're happy for one whole evening.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Underwear Club






























I know you're not supposed to hang your underwear out in public so I'm displaying it on the kitchen table (and backwards, so as to avoid frontal exposure). I'm delighted with my collection! (Thank you, Barbara and Carla and Leontien.)

My 7th pair of Björn Borgs came in the mail this week, and finally Barbara paid attention to me when I insisted that I needed size large. (See new pair on top, size large).

Over the past year I've collected a pair for every day of the week, and I can have one fat day a week. (That's today, by the way.)

We've decided to start the Underwear Club. Let us know if you'd like to join! And right now Björn Borg is having a great sale, if you can get his web site to work.

This just in from Barbara:

From: Barbara
Date: January 18, 2010 5:37:35 AM PST
Subject: RE: Underwear Club
To: Linda


Leenda, we should do a contest with BB underwear!!


GASP!!!!!
This is a beautiful photo!!!!!!
How would the contest work?
Oh, this is so gorgeous, should I publish yours on the blog too????



Leenda, Larry took the photo, I arranged it, but I can't take any credit for the photo. You can publish it on your blog.

Contest could be the most original photo? Any thoughts?

Larry came up with that idea for the contest, didn't he.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Broken Embraces






























It's around the corner at the Boa.

A blast of fresh air for moviegoers everywhere.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Another New Baby in the World






















Tom and I were looking at the galleries at 49 Geary Tuesday night. We happened to walk by Murik Children's Store, and I suddenly remembered: There's a new baby in the world! Her name is Anne, and she belongs to Nina. We raced into the store. I saw this rattle--the best one in the world--and looked no further. I handed over my $10.50 and we were out the door. It's made by Happy Horse.

I think I was as excited by this as anything I saw in the galleries.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

New Car




















I'm lots happier than I look in this painting! It's a tiny Yaris that can fit into any parking space.


Sunday, January 10, 2010

Beach Find of the Day


Doodle Jump!















I've never been a player of games. Until three days ago. That's when I discovered Doodle Jump. It's now my favorite application (after Ambiance for white noise to sleep by, and Kindle). As you can see, the graphics are wonderful. And the sounds ... mesmerizing! You can download it for 99¢ for the iPhone.

Friday, January 08, 2010

Thursday, January 07, 2010

On Our Front Porch This Evening
























Juan Carlos Santiago carved this and his wife painted it.


Have you ever met someone and loved that person immediately if not sooner? That's what happened when I met John 30 years ago.

John is Tom's friend from college. This year he went to Oaxaca for Christmas with his Tom. Look what he sent us! Below is the woman who painted it, and at the very bottom is a detail.




Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Hundreds and Hundreds of Things

Jason Kottke's blog is the first blog I ever read–before I even knew what a blog was. It was shiny and so interesting, even without pictures back then. Here are his 100 Favorite Links of 2009. By the way, his wife Meg Hourihan co-founded the company that created Blogger.


And for a closer look at my expanded creature collection, step over here.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Monday, January 04, 2010

Good Night

























I'm sitting at the computer.

Tom comes over. "I'm going to bed. Is there anything you'd like to say to me?"

Me: "I love you."

Tom: "Can you put that in writing?"

I scramble to find a piece of paper and a pen.

Tom: "It's OK. Just shoot me an e-mail."

Saturday, January 02, 2010

The Kind of People We Are






























Some people are given a hard time because they don't bother to undo the lights and take their tree down until Valentine's Day.

Apparently there are other people who manage to get their tree up but never get around to putting the lights on it at all. Do you think it's too late?

And please don't ask what it's doing on the dinner table.